Portable fence



Oct. 29, 1963 DE ROY SIMPSON 3,108,786

PORTABLE FENCE Original Filed July 13, 1959 INVENTORI DE/POV S/MPSO/V A T TOP/VEVS United States Patent 3,108,736 PORTABLE FENCE DeRoy Simpson, 317 29th St., Oakland 3, Calif. Orig nal application July 13, 1959, Ser. No. 826,652, new Patent No. 3,057,691, dated Oct. 9, 1962. Divided and this application Dec. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 157,774

4 Claims. (61. 256-59) This invention relates in general to improvements in fences, and more particularly, to a highway barricade post for facilitating quick and easy assembly and disassembly of a barricade.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 826,652, filed July 13, 1959, now Patent No. 3,057,601.

It is an object of this invention to provide a self-supporting barricade or fence incorporating provisions for quick and easy assembly and disassembly which give the barricade a high degree of portability while nevertheless assuring it adequate strength and structural rigidity.

It is another object of this invention to provide a barricade of the character described, which is particularly well adapted for use as a highway barricade in the marking of road hazards such as detours, excavations and the like, and which has wide general application where portable barricades or fences are required.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a barricade of the character described, which is adapted for makeup either as a single unit or as one of a plurality of similar units interlocked to provide a barricade of extended length.

It is another object of the invention to provide a single barricade post structure which may be used at any position in the barricade whether the barricade is made up of a single unit or a plurality of units.

A further object of this invention is to provide a barricade of the character described, which is simple in design and cheap to manufacture as a result of incorporating a number of duplicate parts fabricated from commonly available materials.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a portion of a typical post assembly of a continuous barricade made up from a plurality of interlocking units, and

FIG. 2 is a view in section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, an assembled barricade unit is made of parallel spaced apart feet 8 (one shown) which extend laterally outward to support barricade against side tilting or upset. The feet 8 may be of any suitable material; however, in the interests of economy and ease of installation, wood is preferred. Pairs of triangularly shaped complemental gusset plates 10 are releasably secured by means of nut and bolt assemblies 12 to straddle the feet 8 and extend vertically upwardly therefrom. Gusset plates 11? may be conveniently fabricated from relatively light gauge steel and are stiffened by the provision of inclined inturned flanges 14. At the upper end of each of the gusset plates 10 is provided a horizontally extending outturned flange or lip 16. As thus arranged, the complemental gusset plates 10 form a rigid base structure for the barricade post assembly. Further, each of the gusset plates 19 is of identical construction which may be economically fabricated as similar stampings.

Pairs of complemental channel members 18 are received at their lower ends in the bases formed by the respective pairs of complemental gusset plates 10. Each of the channel members 18 is releasably secured at either 3,1d83786 Patented Get. 29, 1%63 side by a plurality of similar nut and bolt assemblies 20 which fix the channel member flanges to the adjacent gusset plates 10. In FIG. 2, channel members 18 are shown disposed in parallel relationship and spaced apart, the channels opening toward each other to form an unbroken rectangular recess 22. At either side of each of the channel members 18 is provided a longitudinally extending outwardly directed flange 24 which is bevelled at its upper end and extends downwardly therefrom to a point immediately above the adjacent gusset plate flange 16. As in the case of the gusset plate It each of the channel members 18 is identical and may be fabricated as a single stamping from a suitable light gauge metal such as steel.

Completing each of the barricade post assemblies is a rectangular cap member 26 provided at either side and at front and back with downturned ears 28. The front and back ears are suitably apertured to mate with aper tures provided in the upper ends of channel members (18 for receipt of nut and bolt assembly 32 to releasably secure cap member 2a atop said channel members. Cap member 26 serves both as a tie for the complemental pairs of channel members 18 and as spacer means for maintaining such members in parallel spaced apart relatlonshlp.

As indicated in my above-identified application, the post members may be used as either end or intermediate posts in the barricade. In the drawings herein, corresponding to FIGS. 4 and 5 of said application, the post is illustrated as an intermediate post in the barricade.

In this form of barricade, rails 40, disposed to extend horizontally in spaced relationship, are arranged in end abutting pairs received between the complemental channel members 18. The adjacent ends of each of the rail members 40 have fixedly secured to their front and back faces square stiffener members 42, which project beyond a margin thereof. The stiifeners 42. function both as spacers for the rails 40 and as structural stiifeners.

As indicated in my above-identified application, the posts may be used to support the end of only one rail in which case the rail may extend all of the way through the post with larger stiffener members thereon. Alternatively the end post support may be accomplished with one set of rails 4d with their stiffeners 42 thereon with a vertical strut such as a two by four replacing the other rail 4d and stilfeners 42.

As heretofore indicated, a prime advantage, in addition to the adaptability of the post assembly to an intermediate or end location in a particular barricade, is the portability oifered by the invention by its provisions for quick and easy assembly and :disassembly. The barricade will generally be transported in knocked-down condition with the rails 40 dissociated from the post assemblies. The post assemblies, however, may be conveniently transported assembled, as shown in FIG. 1, with the cap member 26 secured in place atop the complemental channel members 18. Assembly at the desired site of barricade erection is then easily effected by removing the cap member 26 and slidably inserting from the top of the post assembly into the recesses provided therefor, the rail members of the particular configuration desired. After insertion of the rail members, the cap member 26 is positioned atop channel members 18 and secured thereto by the bolt and nut assembly 32. When thus assembled, it may be noted that the barricade has considerable structural rigidity, gusset plates 14) and stiffener members 42 respectively offering lateral and longitudinal support.

The posts may be fabricated very easily from a minimum number of metal stampings and standard size wood pieces, the feet being preferably made of two byfours and the rails being made of one inch planks.

From the above it may be appreciated that the barricade of this invention is suitable for a Wide variety of installations where portable barricading or fencing is a requirement. One post assembly is enabled to serve both as an intermediate and a corner support. Thus a minimum of separate shapes is required; three separate stampings, i.e., for the gusset plates 10, the channel members 18 and the cap member 26, are all that are required, in addition to the wood footing members 8 and rail members 36 and 40.

It will, of course, be appreciated that the embodiments of this invention as herein described may be altered, changed or modified without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

l. A rail supporting post for pontable barricades and the like and adapted for use both at the ends of a barricade and at intermediate points along the length of the barricade where barricade rails abut which comprises: a base portion adapted to be supported on the ground, a pair of parallel and spaced apart post forming members extending upwardly from said base portion and having complementary inwardly facing recesses therein which to gether define a generally vertical passageway the-rebetween having lateral openings thereinto on opposite sides of said post forming members whereby a generally vertical median plane perpendicular to said post forming members divides said passageway into substantially identical halves, and rail means having rail end portions extending into the lateral opening in one of said halves of said passageway with post stiifene-r members attached to said rail end portion and extending into the recesses in said post forming members and with said rail end portions and stiffener members substantially filling said half of said passageway.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said base com, prises a pair of gusset plates interconnecting said post forming members and supporting them rigidly in said complemental spaced apart relation with said gusset plates having outturned flanges on their upper ends embracing said rail means and supporting said rail means above the lower ends of said post forming members, and a foot member attached to said gusset plates at the lower end of said post forming members and extending across said post forming members generally perpendicular to the length of said rail means and generally perpendicular to the length of said post forming members.

3. A rail supporting post for portable lbanricades and the like and adapted for use both at the ends of a barricade and at intermediate points along the length of the barricade where barricade rails abut which comprises: a base portion adapted to be supported on the ground, a pair of parallel and spaced apart post forming members extending upwardly from said base portion and having complementary inwardly facing recesses therein which together define a generally vertical passageway therebetween having lateral openings thereinto on opposite sides of said post forming members whereby a generally vertical median plane perpendicular to said post forming members divides said passageway into substantially identical halves, and rail means extending through said openings in said passageway with post stiffener members attached to said rail means and extending into the recesses in said post forming members and with said rail means and said stiffener members substantially filling said passageway.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which said rail means comprises a pair of rails extending int-o opposite ones of said openings with said rails abutting each other with different ones of said stiffener members attached to each of said rails and with each of said rails together with the stihener members attached thereto substantially filling one of said identical halves of said passageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 623,700 Bougeno Apr. 25, 1899 830,437 Humphrey Sept. 4, 1906 2,669,434 White Feb. 16, 1954 

1. A RAIL SUPPORTING POST FOR PORTABLE BARRICADES AND THE LIKE AND ADAPTED FOR USE BOTH AT THE ENDS OF A BARRICADE AND AT INTERMEDIATE POINTS ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE BARRICADE WHERE BARRICADE RAILS ABUT WHICH COMPRISES: A BASE PORTION ADAPTED TO BE SUPPORTED ON THE GROUND, A PAIR OF PARALLEL AND SPACED APART POST FORMING MEMBERS EXTENDING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASE PORTION AND HAVING COMPLEMENTARY INWARDLY FACING RECESSES THEREIN WHICH TOGETHER DEFINE A GENERALLY VERTICAL PASSAGEWAY THEREBETWEEN HAVING LATERAL OPENINGS THEREINTO ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID POST FORMING MEMBERS WHEREBY A GENERALLY VERTICAL MEDIAN PLANE PERPENDICULAR TO SAID POST FORMING MEMBERS DIVIDES SAID PASSAGEWAY INTO SUBSTANTIALLY IDENTICAL HALVES, AND RAIL MEANS HAVING RAIL END PORTIONS EXTENDING INTO THE LATERAL OPENING IN ONE OF SAID HALVES OF SAID PASSAGEWAY WITH POST STIFFNER MEMBERS ATTACHED TO SAID RAIL END PORTION AND EXTENDING INTO THE RECESSES IN SAID POST FORMING MEMBERS AND WITH SAID RAIL END PORTIONS AND STIFFNER MEMBERS SUBSTANTIALLY FILLING SAID HALF OF SAID PASSAGEWAY. 